Guam (rated, metro, island)

[blueskies49]

Treborn, I don't mind that you posted on an old thread. I like hearing about Guam. My dad was born and raised there then joined the US Army out of high school. I have lots of Guamanian relatives, a good many live in the US. I have never been to Guam and don't know when I'll ever get the chance although I have a brother and sister who visited years ago.

You mentioned the red rice and kelaguin (I'm not sure of the spelling either!). I love the food and had some of it growing up whether it was with just the immediate family or a get-together with Guamanian relatives. I cook it now and then, and even my grown daughter does, too!

[the_draken]

I did a two year contract teaching high school on Guam. I barely survived with my life and my sanity. If you're not local to the island expect to be horribly discriminated against. Whites are in many ways second class citizens. EXAMPLE! If you follow the Pacific Daily News, there's not a single week going by that a local isn't named as a sexual predator or accused of molesting children. In the print edition these are pushed conveniently to page 3 or seven. Unless you're white or military. Expect it to be front page as long as you are on the island.

It's bloody damned expensive. Rent on my hole in the wall one bedroom with no cross breeze was $500/mos in the south end of the island. No, it wasn't on the beach. No, it wasn't walking distance to anything (unless you wanted to be attacked by a pack of wild dogs! Srsly!). And the electricity ran me AT LEAST $250/mos. Since then the electric has gone up in price considerably. Gas was still in the $2/$3 range when I was there, it's hovering around $5 right now, and you _MUST_ have a car to get around. There is _NO_ public transport. Even the tourist buses don't want haoles (a Hawaiian derogatory term for whites) on board, because that keeps the Asian tourists off. Did I mention that they have the world's largest K-mart? They _DO_! Seriously, it is, and it has about the same stuff, well lower variety, as your local Kmart. At much higher prices. And it doesn't even pay US duties when it gets unloaded from the ship that comes straight from Asia. No joke.

Cell phone? Yeah, not cheap, I was there February of last year (2012) and was asked $10/day to RENT one. Bullschtein! Buy one? Only if you're doing pay as you go, thank you, and the rates aren't exactly cheap either, about $0.50/minute.

Now, here's some of the things that I experienced as a teacher, my school was essentially an inner city school with no gun violence. Everything else was there!

~ Had life threatened four times
~ Student went into labor in my classroom
^ I was pulled into the office the next day and reprimanded for calling 911 BEFORE calling the school office!
~ Caught student masturbating in classroom while staring intently at a female student. Nothing done to him because it was the last three days of school. Nevermind that he's 20 and she's 15!
~ Had tires slashed on car (not just me, every teacher in that lot gottit that day).
~ No internet in the school (2008!)
~ School computer and TV stolen from my locked classroom, still locked next morning.
~ Unable to schedule _ANY_ field trips because Education Dept. hadn't paid their transportation bill in over a decade.
~ Student was KILLED in a fist fight at my school. Yes! A FIST FIGHT KILLED A KID! (It was over a girl...)
~ Students are allowed to enroll in public schools THROUGH AGE 21!!! And they're placed in the same classroom as a 14 year old.
~ Although it's now 21, drinking age was 18 at the time. Numerous students arrived drunk and would pass out in my class room and threaten me when I tried to kick them out.
~ _Z_E_R_O_ support from administration.
~ Three colleagues at my school arrested for sexual relations with a minor (their students)
~ Five false police reports against teachers for rape
~ Two school aides arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor (providing alcohol and marijuana) during school hours but _NOT_ on school grounds!
~ Three school aides and ten students arrested for running an MMA fighting ring (Oh, yeah, they LOVE the MMA over there!)
~ I went THREE PAY PERIODS without pay! Only when I threatened to get on the plane home that day if I didn't get my check in my hand by 4:30P did I get paid. They still owe me nearly $4000 dollars. I even went in DEBT to get the hell off of the island!
~ Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!) will lie to your face. White, brown, yellow, doesn't matter the skin color, everyone lies there.

And the list goes on...

On the plus side, there are some beautiful views there. Once in awhile, when the garbage is washed out to sea off of the beaches, the beaches are kind of nice. SCUBA diving instruction is DIRT CHEAP! I became a dive instructor while I was there.

So, that's what it's like to live and work on Guam. Unless you're military or work for the DoD. Than it's frikin' SUH-HUWEET! Cheap gas, cheap food, live in base housing where people don't steal your stuff, cheap electricity, cheap and CLEAN water... It's really a totally different world on the other side of the fence.

Now, do you have anymore questions?

[FLSTS]

I guess it is safe to say your not gonna go back?

[FCStraight]

Originally Posted by MSgirlfornow

Can anyone give me any information on living and working in Guam? Cost of living, availability of teaching jobs, etc... Thanks for any info.

If you have your teaching credentials...why not check the DODDEA job website? That's the website for Dept of Defense Education. They hire teachers for posting in Dept of Defense schools throughout the world. Check craigslist-guam also. I recently saw some teaching ads in that website for Guam. The good thing about getting a teaching job with DODDEA is the benefits. When posted outside the Continental U.S., you're entitled to all sorts of living allowances. In Guam, working for DOD means you get COLA and BX/commissary privileges. That means no tax on goods you buy. I was stationed at Andersen AFB once...we loved it! Thinking of getting back there also.

FCStraight

[johninvegas]

Originally Posted by FCStraight

In Guam, working for DOD means you get COLA and BX/commissary privileges. That means no tax on goods you buy.

FCStraight

As I recall, there's no sales tax on Guam anyway.

[sailorgirl2007]

People say they either love Guam or hate it - there's no in between. I lived there for four years (91-95) and loved it. I went back for a visit in 2002 and things had changed a lot, catering more to Japanese tourist. However, just the feeling of being back and remembering all the fond memories was great. The Chamorro people are among the nicest you will ever meet.

[payutenyodagimas]

Guam is where the Spaniards and Americans sent Filipino rebels during colonial times

[TeddyP27]

My partner is from Guam and I visited there for the first time about 3 years ago. I was the only "haole" at the family events and by the end of the visit no one cared. As a WWII/Pacific War buff, I appreciated the plethora of military history on the island and was very thoughtful while listening to the elders talk about it. It is our plan to retire there in about 15-20 years. There's enough "Americana" there to make it work for me!

[Texamichiforniasota]

Originally Posted by TeddyP27

My partner is from Guam and I visited there for the first time about 3 years ago. I was the only "haole" at the family events and by the end of the visit no one cared. As a WWII/Pacific War buff, I appreciated the plethora of military history on the island and was very thoughtful while listening to the elders talk about it. It is our plan to retire there in about 15-20 years. There's enough "Americana" there to make it work for me!

My only caution about retiring to Guam is the medical care. Make sure you look into it before you go. You'll have to go to Manila or Honolulu for a lot of things, and in an emergency you are stuck with what care is available on island.

[Summerwhale]

I would love to know why Guam is part of America